Shivers run down his spine in the morning when he opens the newspaper or when he listens to the television news by seeing what is happening in Venezuela in these days. A catastrophe of immense proportions not only political and economic but above all social. He sweats cold thinking about the narrow escape. Because for Gianni Dezio, 33, chef of "Tosto" in Atri, an enchanting medieval village modeled in some points on the model of the pre-existing Roman city, in the province of Teramo, the South American country had represented the dream common to many since childhood his fellow countrymen who have crossed the ocean in search of fortune since the last century. A journey which, since the unification of Italy to today, has faced 1.200.000 people, an enormous figure for a region like Abruzzo which today has a population of 1.312.581 inhabitants. Many had headed north to the States, many to Argentina and Brazil which, following the abolition of slavery, had facilitated the arrival of migratory flows needing manpower for crops.
Many others had chosen Venezuela, where today there are 30.000 people from Abruzzo, half of all the inhabitants of L'Aquila. Among these were Dezio's grandparents, who, with no small amount of courage, had left Atri for Venezuela, settling in Calabozo, in the central part of the country. The name aroused a little awe because Calabozo means prison, since, in the colonial era, being an area located in a remote position along the course of the Guarico river, it was offered to many prisoners as exile, as an alternative to prison, for work in public utility works for land reclamation. The city had then developed as an important agricultural and livestock breeding center and site of some industrial areas.
Here the Dezio family had opened a home-restaurant, a highly trendy formula today, “Nonna Italia”, which soon became a point of reference for the community of Italian emigrants who wanted to recognize their identity origins in food, but also for many Venezuelans who appreciated Italian recipes and above all the fresh pasta that Nonna Italia (grandma was called like that, l 'sign had not been a publicity stunt) prepared daily. The success of "Nonna Italia" had also attracted the rest of the family. Thus it was that from an early age the young Dezio began to go back and forth between Italy and Venezuela. He is first enrolled in the nursery school in the South American country, then returns to Italy for the elementary and middle school years, then moves back to Venezuela, where he attends high school. But when it comes to choosing the University he is back again in Italy in Teramo where he enrolled and graduated in Tourism Sciences.
In all this gradually on the oceans between Atri and VenezuelaMeanwhile, Gianni becomes familiar with food and is passionate about seeing his grandmother prepare food for customers and lends a hand in the kitchen to prepare pasta and other dishes. After two years of work in this business, Gianni decides that the time has come to put himself to the test, he has clear ideas: he wants to become a cook. Said and done, in short he opens a real restaurant right in front of the family one, a place where he can experiment with his creativity that has been forming between the traditional cuisine of Abruzzo and that of his adopted country.
But the boy soon realizes that his professional growth cannot take place in Calabozo. Even if hearing him speak, the first trait that emerges of his personality is a sort of shyness, reluctance, reserve with which he talks about himself and his dishes, Gianni Dezio has plenty of will and desire to succeed . It applies to him, and suits him perfectly, a famous passage by Primo Levi, journalist and diplomat at the end of the 800th century, dedicated to Abruzzo: “There is in our language all simplicity and effectiveness, a word consecrated by the intention of honest people to designate many good things, many necessary things: it is the word Strength. However, strong Abruzzo has been said and continues to be said. There is in our language all, in itself, including elegance, a word that is worth understanding by defining them, all the beauties, all the nobility: it is the word Kindness. However, after having seen and known Abruzzo, I say: Strong and Gentle Abruzzo. And yet, after having seen and known Abruzzo, I said and I repeat: Abruzzo Forte e Gentile.”
And Dario, strong and kind, faces courage with both hands. Venezuela is going through a very serious economic crisis, throughout the country there is a lack of many basic necessities or consumer goods: from sugar to coffee, to oil, even toilet paper (which becomes a kind of symbol of the country's tragic conditions after that the new Maduro government has decided to seize a toilet paper factory to supply the country). Inflation has now reached 54 percent, there are continuous blackouts that leave entire areas of the country in the dark for hours. The South American country is no longer the Eden of its grandparents. Gianni convinces everyone with determination, they pack their bags and return home with the whole family. AND in 2013 they are all back in Atri, with his Italian-Venezuelan wife and children. He starts again and starts again from the kitchen because it's the only job he knows. Gianni is determined in the desire to grow, to learn new things, to make new experiences, Abruzzo is no longer that of his grandparents, things have changed a lot. In the field of catering, it is no longer time for good-natured trattorias, it is not enough to churn out fresh pasta. You need excellence to break through in a sector in which many have thrown themselves.
In Castel di Sangro Niko Romito, the Romito phenomenon, who in just 7 years starting from the family pastry shop managed to win 3 Michelin stars, 3 forks from the Gambero Rosso Guide, 5 hats from the L'Espresso Guide, the 43rd place in the ranking of the 50 World's Best Restaurants in the world opened the Niko Romito Formazione, Professional Italian Cooking Course. Without hesitation Dario enrolls, a choice that will change the course of his life, a fundamental experience that makes him completely change his approach to cooking: he learns how to modify parameters, acquires technique, but above all sets the study of taste as a principle essential in the creation of each dish. Romito's school recalls "it changed my palate, my vision, my care, it revealed the importance of research and making sense of everything I put on my plate". He is so passionate about what he is learning that he wants to leap forward: on weekends, instead of going home to his family, he stays in the kitchen to observe and learn, to grasp new sensations, he develops a personal vision of the kitchen in which the small, collected and linked to the territory becomes an added value and not a penalty as Romito taught. And Romito looks at him with sympathy, appreciates his qualities and commitment, supports him in his future projects, in short, he believes in this young man, strong and kind, who wants to improve and establish himself.
And in 2014 Gianni manages to open his own space, "Tosto", in Atri. A name that says it all, Tosto to give the sense of roasted bread, Tosto because he wanted a short name that gave the sense of essentiality of taste, Tosto (the most likely reason) to make his character and the challenge of start all over again. And tell me if he wasn't right Primo Levi! It seems like a sign of fate. The place is that of an old abandoned restaurant that Dezio's father, Mauro, recognized while wandering around the town, it is the restaurant where his grandmother had started working before moving to Venezuela.
Few seats, about thirty, minimal furnishings (also for economic reasons) Dezio concentrates on the kitchen, where his mother Maria Mattucci assists him, specialized and in charge of the processing of fresh pasta and desserts, while his wife Daniela, is dedicated to welcoming in the dining room.
Each dish comes from the link with the territory. Dezio is strongly linked to the territory to the point of networking with selected local producers of raw materials who supply it with the ingredients for its gourmet preparations. And all together, father, mother, Dezio and his wife constantly roam the countryside in search of products with ancient flavours, go to the market every day to stock up on fresh vegetables, go down to the sea at Giulianova for fresh fish. They also discover the fascinating world of the Calanchi, in the reserve which is a few kilometers from Atri and here the father Mauro undertakes to go around the gullies to pick pennyroyal, capers, oregano, fennel, carrots and purslane, wild herbs that give strong flavor to Dezio's preparations in Kitchen.
Territory therefore as a religion of respect for this land, but Dezio he also does not forget his first Venezuelan experiences, and his creative and personal cuisine becomes a permanent dialogue between the Abruzzo tradition and the memory of South American flavors playing on the contrast between the Venezuelan acidity and the typically Italian bitter taste.
It is therefore a meditative and reflective cuisine for which the menu must start from bitter or acid and a sweet must clean. And so they take shape “Cacio e ovo” buttons in super clarified lamb broth (a dutiful tribute to his master Romito), artichoke tortelli with Atri pecorino cheese fondue and licorice, a tribute to the history of Atri, here the monks extracted licorice as early as the 600s, the Fondo of smoked lentil, beef and pork, turnip white and tripe, and the “Terra dei Calanchi”, a sweet-non-sweet house made with licorice. “ Making new and free signature cuisine, albeit with evident respect and passion for the treasures that the fascinating hills, the nearby sea, and inland Abruzzo offer, – wrote the Gambero Rosso Guide of him which awarded him a score of 80 and two forks – it wasn't easy at first. But Gianni Dezio's solidity and talent won hands down”.
In short, the boy knows his stuff and has shown it in just four years, let alone what we have to expect for the future.
